7 albums you need to hear this week

In the age of streaming, it’s never been easier to listen to new music – but with over 60,000 new songs added to Spotify every day, it’s also never been harder to know what to put on. Every week, the team at Rolling Stone UK will run down some of the best new releases that have been added to streaming services.

This week, we’ve highlighted records by Liam Gallagher, HAAi and Murkage Dave.

Alfie Templeman, Mellow Moon

Two years since his debut and a whole lot of unprecedented times in between, 19-year-old Alfie Templeman didn’t anticipate the emotional journey that would precede new album Mellow Moon. “I was struggling a lot,” he said in a press release, reflecting on experiencing lockdown in his childhood bedroom which doubles as a studio. “I was very low for a few weeks and couldn’t write for a long time.” But what’s broken through the other side is a more confident, lyrically honest Templeman – songs that glow with teenage nostalgia, anthemic angst and festival-ready shine. “It feels like I’m on a different planet. I’ve gone somewhere new and I’m discovering fire for the first time.”

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | TIDAL | Amazon Music

ELLES, A Celebration of the Euphoria of Life

London DJ, producer, and vocalist ELLES’ debut album is about a big weekend: leaving the office on a Friday, getting ready for a night out, being in the club, having conversations with strangers in the toilets, and seeing the afterglow as you leave in the morning. It drills into the idea of nightlife both communal experience and personal escapism, weaving in club sounds from the UK (garage, acid, breaks) with touches of dream pop.

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | TIDAL | Amazon Music

HAAi, Baby, We’re Ascending

Following her collaboration with Romy of The xx and Grammy-nominated producer Fred Again.., London-based Australian DJ/producer HAAi lands on the legendary Mute Records with her debut album Baby We’re Ascending. It’s a vivid and vibrant collection that brings the dance floor to the home, with hardcore rhythms and trippy synths as well as collaborations with Jon Hopkins, Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, singer Obi Franky and spoken word poet/activist Kai-Isaiah Jamal.

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | TIDAL | Amazon Music

Jeshi, Universal Credit

A politically conscious UK MC, Jeshi’s zesty flow pulses and patters all over his debut album, Universal Credit, a project inspired by the darkness of growing up in the shadow of austerity. His gifted, buzzy rhymes are none more apparent on the celebratory standout ‘Two Mums’, a luminous ode to the unconventional family that embodies UK rap’s move towards the self-reflective. Catch Obongjayar featuring on a couple of tracks too.

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | TIDAL | Amazon Music

Just Mustard, Heart Under

Four years since debut album Wednesday, Dundalk five-piece Just Mustard are traversing totally new territory. Shaking off the shoegaze label that often follows abstract newcomers, Heart Under’s output is something more haunting, atmospheric, almost smothering at times. “There was sadness and sorrow in the album, and it felt like being underwater and under something very heavy,” vocalist Katie Ball said when announcing the record. Heart Under will leave listeners still struggling to grasp exactly where they can place such a distinctive and experimental sound.

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | TIDAL | Amazon Music

Liam Gallagher, C’Mon You Know

No longer just an internet sign off, Liam Gallagher’s third solo album C’mon You Know arrives just one week before his biblical return to Knebworth. Featuring the high-spirited ‘Everything’s Electric’, which he co-wrote with Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, the roaring ‘C’mon You Know’, and sun-kissed ‘Better Days’, there’s plenty of classic, belting LG, with slower ballads and alternative moments, too. C’mon You Know is ready for open air stadiums underneath the red sun.

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | TIDAL | Amazon Music

Murkage Dave, The City Needs a Hero

With The City Needs a Hero, East Londoner Murkage Dave’s observant tales of conflicted times widen their scope. As the last two years have seen much of humanity interact via social media, Dave, with his matter-of-fact stream-of-consciousness lyrics, stresses the pertinence of human connection, with ‘World I Want to Leave In’ bluntly telling listeners to put down their phone and ‘Us Lot’ exploring the phenomenon of ghosting. Candid and forlorn, The City Needs a Hero captures the 2022 milieu.

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp | TIDAL | Amazon Music